Gauchada Week: Bestias del Sur Salvaje

Friday, 29 June 2018 00:00
Photography

Bestias del Sur Salvaje is a collective of outdoor sportsmen and explorers who believe that the role of athletes should extend beyond the mere enjoyment of their sports but also an active commitment to protecting the environments that they explore. Through diverse actions and projects, such as river festivals and documentaries, they are linking outdoor sportsmen with local communities and environmental groups dedicated to protecting the natural and cultural heritage of Chile. Follow them on Instagram and Facebook to keep track of their activities and get involved.

1. EXPLORATION. Exploration is experienced from the places we visit daily to the hidden valleys that cross our mountain ranges. Such trips become mere excuses to discover and reflect on the world all around us. We invite you to turn off your screen, get up, and let yourself be surprised by your surroundings.

The Peninsula of Hualpén is a nature sanctuary, one of the best places to practice outdoor sports near Concepción. Despite this and its long tradition with fishing families, it is an area in conflict with the extractive industry of the region.

Photo: Paulo Urrutia

2. COMMITMENT. Outdoor sports excites us with each place we go to. Our senses expand, and contemplation leads us to perceive, observe, and understand the spectacle of nature. But in what way is the lifestyle of our society affecting the places we love the most? We organized the Festival Biobío Vive on the Biobío River seeking to highlight the Alto Biobío area, promote tourism and the local economy, and discuss the future dismantling of the Ralco, Pangue and Angostura mega-dams. We invite you to join the various organizations that seek protection, care and access to nature.

"It is not enough to fight for the Earth. It is important to enjoy it. While we are still here. While we can. So go out and fish, hunt and lose time with friends, walk here and there, explore the forests, climb mountains, cross the rivers, breathe deeply the sweet air, contemplate the beauty of silence or the mysterious space,” rightly said the American writer and environmentalist Edward Abbey.

Photo: Paulo Urrutia

4. ADVENTURE. For us, adventure is an activity that does not necessarily involve risking our lives. The adventure has to lead us to break our routines. To understand that things can be and not be, according to how we look at them. The adventure begins when everything you planned in a certain way ends up being different. It means cold, but also heat; laughter, but also sadness; achievements, but also failures. In the words of Yvon Chouinard, the important thing is not to climb Mount Everest, but rather don’t return being the same idiot that you were, and for that you have to commit yourself to the process.

Photo: Salome Candela

5. FRIENDSHIP. Among the mountains, rivers, and forests we have forged close friendships, enhanced by the simple fact that we share a critical perspective of our development model.

Photo: Paulo Urrutia

6. COMMUNICATION. Athletes have the privilege of being messengers for rivers, oceans, forests, and mountains. This responsibility necessarily should translate into actions, such as communication. At BSS, we document socio-environmental problems by writing and photographing them, and we recently filmed two documentaries together with MVMT, Carlos Lastra Barros and Claudio Vicuña about the impact of the forest industry and the importance of the rivers for the Mapuche people.

Photo: Erick Vigouroux

Photo: Paulo Urrutia

7. CELEBRATION. After successfully negotiating the challenges and obstacles of a river, we feel an immense celebration that becomes an energetic cry: Let the struggle for the free rivers be a carnival of joy!

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